Why Do You Need to Properly Stripe Handicap Spaces?

For safety and accessibility, it is very important to keep handicap parking spaces clearly marked. Handicapped spaces are essential for any parking lot. They indicate where people with accessibility issues can park safely with enough room to maneuver wheelchairs, walkers, canes, or any other tools they may need.   
  
Keep your customers safe by clearly marking handicapped spaces. It’s also important to have the right amount of handicapped spaces, which depends on the total number of spaces in your lot.   
  
If simply providing safe and easy access for people with disabilities isn’t enough reason to keep your handicap spaces striped, then perhaps the threat of an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit will be. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has a set of guidelines that parking lots must adhere to. Failure to comply with the ADA can result in costly lawsuits.

What Are the Requirements for Handicapped Parking Spaces?

The ADA has outlined the specific requirements for handicapped parking spaces. The number of handicapped parking spaces that must be made available depends on the total number of spaces in the lot. For example, if you own a small business with only 25 parking spaces or less, then you just need 1 handicap space that is van accessible. A lot with 201 to 300 spaces requires a minimum of 7 handicap parking spaces, with at least 2 of those being van accessible.

The type of facility you own also factors into how many handicapped spaces should be available. Hospitals should have 10% of the spaces in their parking lot be accessible, while facilities dedicated to rehabilitation require at least 20% of the spaces in their lots to be accessible.

As for the space sizes, handicap spaces must be a minimum of 8 feet wide, and van accessible spaces must be at least 11 feet wide. Access aisles must be a minimum of 5 feet wide to allow room for mobility devices. Vertical clearance is also necessary. The ADA guidelines state that there must be a minimum of 98 inches of vertical clearance for van accessible parking spaces.

When Should You Restripe Handicap Parking Spaces?

How often you should restripe handicapped spaces or any type of striping in your lot, depends on a few factors. The first is the amount of traffic your establishment gets. If there is a lot of traffic, that means that the paint will fade faster, meaning you’ll need to restripe sooner. 

Weather also plays a part in how often you need to restripe. Harsh weather conditions like rain or snow will wear out the paint, but if you live in a more neutral climate or your striping is protected from the elements by overhangs, you won’t need to restripe as often.

As a general rule, you should be restriping your lot about once a year. However, if the above conditions are such that your stripes are protected from the elements, then it’s possible you can get away with restriping only once every two years.

However often you need to restripe, it’s very important to keep your handicap spaces clearly outlined and marked. Having these spaces clearly striped means that visitors will know where they can and can’t park, will increase the safety for anyone with a disability, and will keep you safe from potential lawsuits.

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